The Tour de France is not an “obsession”, says Roglič
Primož Roglič insisted that the Tour de France was not his “obsession” and that he would rather be remembered as a “fighter”.
In 2021, cyclist Jumbo-Visma experienced another Tour disappointment as he was accidentally forced to get out. However, he has won 13 races this season, including the Vuelta a España and the individual time trial at the Tokyo Olympics.
In an interview with a Flemish newspaper The last news, the three-time Vuelte champion said that although he would “like” to win the Tour, he doesn’t need to be “remembered as a rider who won or didn’t win the Tour”.
The Slovenian cyclist unforgettably missed the Tour’s victory at the penultimate stage of the 2020 edition, when he was crushed by his compatriot Tadej Pogačar in the last time trial. He also finished fourth in 2018 and won three stages of the Tour, but withdrew from this year’s race after being injured in an accident.
Roglič explained that he would like to be more than just a grand tour winner. He said: “I’d rather people think of me as the man who fought for it every time, the man who did his best in every race. That’s what I want to be. A fighter. A tour really isn’t an obsession. So it’s not frustration, that it hasn’t worked yet. “
After his abandonment on this year’s Tour, his teammate Wout van Aert won three stages, consisting of a rare trio of mountain stages, a time trial and a sprint. His team-mate Jonas Vingegaard also finished second in the overall standings.
Van Aert has made clear his ambitions to strive for the green jersey next year, and expressed hope that the team will support him in this.
If the Belgian went for the green and Roglič for the yellow, it might be a difficult team for Jumbo-Vismo to balance, which the Slovenian is aware of.
Asked about it, “Good question. Theoretically, anything is possible. We can get green and yellow – and also a polka dot jersey with Sepp Kuss – but the team has to determine what our main goal is, and then we have to have a plan that works for the two of us. “
“It must be our intention to help Wout. We need to find a way for him to go for the stage victory, and I can try to get some time at the same time. We need to think about that carefully.”
Roglič believes that he is still capable of winning the Tour, but he did not want to talk about how he could beat Pogačar, the winner of the last two editions.
“It’s a media speech. What do you think?” he asked. “Should I hit him a hundred times or get it right once? It’s about how strong you are.”